


Steppin' Up

by Mek_Night



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Humanstuck, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magical Girls, Multi, Polyamory, Trans Character, also lowkey a bit of a dance au lmao, also roxy and karkat the "gay fanfiction authors" brotp, bad sailor moon jokes, even though some of them are heroes without magic, god idk what else to tag, its more like a magical super hero lmao, no one is cishet so fuck u, uh its like pretty fucking heavy implications later on so be safe ya'll
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-10 06:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15285666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mek_Night/pseuds/Mek_Night
Summary: "Wait, so, I'm essentially a magical girl?""I mean, if that's how you want to think of it, then sure."After an incident leaves Roxy with magic powers and a small animal mascot, what else is there to do but fight crime in a frilly skirt? Includes, but isn't limited to, useless lesbians, references to magical girl animes, Roxy forcing Karkat to beta her fanfiction, Dave's nationwide hero discord, Dance students, emotional bonding, and just a little bit of magic to top it all off.





	1. Why wait for everything to go to shit 30 chapters in when it can all just go to shit in chapter 1?

**Author's Note:**

> If you're reading this you're so valid and I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy wasn't really having that great of a day to begin with, and honestly it doesn't get better.

Roxy was gazing across the city, searching for any signs of crime, when the first explosion rang out. It was nearly one month since she began the whole “magical girl” gig, and she had begun to embrace the novelty of it all. Who knew that Roxy, a sixteen-year-old girl who’s only hobbies were hacking, writing, and taking care of her cats could be the semi-well known magical hero Rogue? Taking off across the rooftops, she mentally prepared herself for the fight ahead while reminiscing on how she got here.

\-----------------------

Roxy woke with a start, the chime of her alarm still going off in the background. She fumbled with her alarm for a full minute before getting it to shut off, and looked around at her messy room. She rarely put in the effort to keep the place clean; clothes and cat toys were strewn around at random, with stacks of old school papers engulfing her desk. Sighing, she got up, got dressed, and prepared for the day.

 

Walking out to the living room, she found her little sister Rose was already up and was currently watching the news while knitting. The latest story was that a hero from Houston, Turntech, had foiled a terrorist attack at some mall down there. It was odd seeing a story about him where he wasn’t being trashed- most of the time the media only insulted him on account of him refusing interviews and occasionally pulling dumb (but hilarious) stunts. There's still coverage on last month’s incident where he painted the state capitol building neon pink (which they deserved after allowing amazon to exploit their workers who had powers). Turntech was easily a favorite hero of hers, simply because he pulled shit like that- hilarious, yet justified.

 

Rose looked up from her current project when Roxy entered the room, simply greeting her with a “Good morning.” Roxy returned the greeting, and decided it was too early to try and get her sister to engage in a real conversation. Rose had begun to grow more distant, and avoided interaction with Roxy when she could. Even when Roxy could wrangle a conversation out of her, Rose typically deflected any questions she received and tried to abscond at her first chance. Roxy knew Rose needed her space, but it still hurt that her sister deliberately avoided any and all interaction with her. 

 

Letting her thoughts teeter off, Roxy quickly made herself a bagel before heading out. As she was about to head out, she looked back at Rose, who was still on the couch and showed no sign of leaving her spot anytime soon. If anything, she was getting more comfortable.

 

“You skipping school again, Rose?”

 

“... Yes. Why does it matter?”

 

Roxy sighed, grabbing her phone from her pocket. It had been nearly a full month since Rose had begun skipping on and off. Roxy had a feeling Rose had problems in the mental health department, like she also had, but Rose wouldn’t voice her troubles. “Just wanted to know if I needed to warm up my mom impression this morning.” Roxy tried to joke, but Rose simply returned her attention to her knitting project. Looking back one last time, Roxy walked out the door and began the walk to school. Their mother was a multi-billionaire, and while she lived out in the middle of nowhere to study meteors and stars and whatever it is she did, Roxy and Rose stayed at a spare house she bought for the purpose of housing them during the school year.

 

The school was only 10 minutes away from home, and by the time she got there the place was already swamped by the thousands of students that went there. It was a large school, considering it was a middle and high school combined into one. She didn’t bother heading to her locker, considering she kept all her needed supplies in her backpack, and instead went straight to her first class.

 

She didn’t have any friends she really wanted to hang out with before class. Sure, there was Meenah and her gang, or maybe even book club, but they weren’t exactly close friends. Her closest friends were all people she had met online, surprisingly. It wasn’t that she was shy or antisocial- she was the opposite of those in fact. She and her online friends just clicked. Plus, it a lot less nerve-wracking to tell someone online your secrets than a person that you’ll see everyday at school.

 

She got to her first class, computer science, about 15 minutes early. The teacher was used to her early arrival, and barely shot her a glance before returning to his work at his computer. She sat down at her seat, and began booting up the computer. While waiting for it to finish, she went ahead and checked her phone and saw one of her online friends, Jane, had messaged her.

 

gutsyGumshoe [GG] began pestering  tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

 

GG: Roxy, are you awake yet?

TG: yeah janey, is everythgin okay? isnt it like 4 am there

TG: *everythin

GG: Jake just texted me. He didn’t think we were working out, so he broke up with me.

TG: oh janey, im so sorry

GG: The worst part is that it really wasn’t working out. He’s in England and I’m in Washington, for pete's sake! We used talk all day, and things were nice! Now, even someone as clueless as Jake could tell we wouldn’t work out.

GG: It’s just. So upsetting and frustrating. Where did we ever go wrong?

TG: oh janey

TG: itll be alright. if things werent working out maybe its for the best you broke up

TG: and its not ur fault that it didnt work, sometimes ppl dont fit together 

GG: Still, I thought Jake would be the one. It sucks that even he noticed that that wasn’t the case.

GG: Boys suck.

TG: yea

GG: Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder a bit. Gee, I’m probably holding you up from going to class.

TG: dont worry janey class can go fuck itself if you need someone to talk with

GG: You should put more value in class time, Roxy. Besides, I should sleep.

TG: ive already spent over 1000 hours in this school im p sure missing a few classes to comfort u is no big deal

TG: but u should sleep tho

GG: Hmm, alright. Good night!

GG: Or, good morning I suppose :B

 

gutsyGumshoe [GG] ceased pestering  tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

 

Well, that was one way to start the morning. Roxy might need to have some words with Jake, though he probably felt just as bad as Jane. Looking up from her phone, Roxy saw most of the class had finally filed in and started up their computers. She sighed, still worried about Jane, and turned off her phone before logging on to her computer and preparing for that day’s lesson.

 

\-------

 

The day passed quickly, and finally Roxy was in her last (and possibly favorite) class: creative writing. She liked computers, but she also liked writing. Plus, she had an… interesting class partner. 

 

“God fucking dammit, why won’t Word just fucking load for once!”

 

“Language, Mr. Vantas!”

 

Her table-buddy and beta-reader was a freshman named Karkat. He had a fuse shorter than he was, but had writing skills on par with award-winning authors. He was in a writing class two years above him, but could probably ace most college writing classes at his level.

 

“Hey Karkat!” Roxy said as she approached their table.

 

“Hello, random junior who decided to attach herself to my side purely for my beta-reading skills.” Karkat snarkily replied. He was always this crude, but Roxy was used to it.

 

“It's your fault that you have such good beta-ing skills.”

 

“Fuck off”

 

Today was a free day to work on the short story assignment, and Roxy spent of the class writing and bickering back and forth with Karkat. It was her favorite way to end off the day, she and Karkat were both big nerds who wrote in their free time and coded and had plethoras of relationship problems. After karkat texted her saying he found a smut fic he knew was hers (and was right) they got close. Plus, she loved writing stories (even if they weren’t any good), so creative writing was a class she was bound to like.

 

“Hey, is Rose still skipping class?” Karkat quietly asked, probably afraid to set Roxy off. Roxy sighed and shook her head. Karkat was reasonably close with Rose (they apparently shared math), so he deserved to know.

 

“Yeah, I’m honestly not sure what's up with her now.” Roxy replied, looking back down at her paper. She didn't know how to breach the subject with Rose, or if she even could.

 

“She really shouldn’t be gone this much, it isn’t exactly healthy.” Karkat said, turning away. He’s not exactly great at showing he cares, but that was still a lot from him. Looking up, Roxy saw him going back to his story on his laptop, and an almost red glow emanating from him. Blinking, Roxy chalked it up to a lack of sleep, and went back to her work.

 

\-----

 

With the day over, Roxy figured she’d stop at the gas station and get some sodas for her and Rose before going home. However, she was quickly stopped by a loud voice calling for her.

 

“Roxy! Glubbin hell, bitch. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all day.” Meenah shouted, pushing past people to reach her. 

 

“Meenah, your fish puns still suck.”

 

“You’re just jell-fish. You got your phone off or somefin? I’ve been texting you all day about going skatin tonight. You in?” Meenah asked, grinning. She was flanked by Aranea, and Meulin, who were currently in a very active conversation about the pros and cons of diva cups. 

 

“I’m not sure.” Roxy replied, honestly. “I wanna be home to keep an eye on my sister, plus my couch is calling my name.”

 

“Aw, don’t give me that load of carp, gill. Your sister and catfish can last one night, come hang with us. It’ll be fin.” Meenah quickly said in return. Roxy could tell Meenah was determined, which meant Roxy would probably end up going with them no matter what.

 

“I suppose just one night would be fine.” Roxy said, grinning. She always enjoyed hanging with them, plus Meulin doesn’t hang out with Meenah and Aranea often. This was the first time in awhile that most of her real life friends would be together, so she might as well go for it. “What time do you wanna meet?”

 

“That’s the spirit, gill. I’m think ‘boat doin 5 tonight, that good with you?”

“That works fine.”

 

“Alright, seal ya later.” Meenah said, walking off. Aranea apparently won the debate on diva cups, and proudly stalked after Meenah while Meulin wandered after her. Roxy figured she could head home and eat before meeting the girls at the skate rink. Double checking that she had all her stuff, Roxy took off.

 

\------

 

“Rose, I’m home!” Roxy called from the front door, while throwing off her shoes. Rose, still sitting at her spot on the couch, simply hummed in response. Roxy walked past her and into the kitchen, and began getting herself a late lunch/early dinner. From the open cabinet, she saw bottles of beer and wine glaring done at her. SIghing, she closed the cabinet. She’s been dry for months, and wouldn’t give into temptation now. However, she knew Rose was getting an alcohol problem of her own by the amount of empty bottles in the trash. Just another thing to try to get her to talk about, Roxy thought to herself. Quickly throwing a tray of chicken fingers in the oven, Roxy walked back out into the living room.

 

Rose was still knitting, but now netflix was playing in the background, and the scarf was almost 3 feet longs. Roxy figured she’d get nowhere waiting to talk to Rose, so she went ahead and said “Hey, I’m going out with some friends tonight. Will you be alright by yourself?”

 

Rose almost seemed to freeze at that, but quickly went back to her knitting. “That’s fine. It’s not like you need my permission to go out or anything, and you know I can take care of myself.” Rose said cooly. 

 

“I know, but you’ve been alone here a lot lately. And also, it doesn’t exactly look like your, uh. Doing okay.” Roxy said, trying to say her worries as gently as possible.

 

“Yes, because you are the epitome of mental health and completely, one hundred percent understand when something is wrong.” Rose snapped back, bitterly.

 

“I know I have my own problems, but I can be concerned-” Roxy started, before getting cut off.

 

“Your concern is unfounded, sister dearest. Unlike you, I have self control when it comes to alcohol, and manage to keep my head on my shoulders.” Rose replied, obviously trying to get an easy out of the conversation. Roxy knew Rose probably didn’t mean it, but it still hurt to hear her sister say it. 

 

Roxy typically knew better than to take the bait when her sister was involved, but after months of barely having a functional conversation with her sister, she was running out of patience. She let herself snap back, “Say that to the 15 empty bottles of liquor in the trash. And don’t give me that crap about keeping my head on my shoulders, you obviously have some problem but rather than ask for help you let it stop you from being functional! You’ve been missing school so much that even fucking Karkat of all people asked me about you!” Roxy was practically shouting by the end, but quickly felt regret for letting her emotions get ahead of herself.

 

“Like anyone could even understand my problems! You just sit around and talk to friends all day while I’m stuck here, knowing full well that I have problems and that bad things are gonna happen but I can’t do jack. About. It. Even if you say ‘Ask for help’ or ‘Talk to me’ it won’t help anything, so just stop! It just makes it worse!!” Rose screamed back, tears starting to trickle down her face. She quickly ran upstairs to her room, scarf still in her arms. 

 

Roxy stood dumbfounded for a moment, before following her sister upstairs. She knocked on the door, and let herself say “I’m sorry.” But before she could continue, Rose shouted from inside, telling her to go away. Putting her head down, Roxy went back downstairs. 

 

She was usually so much more in control, and could stop screaming matches like that. It was the only way she could even be in the same room as her mom, and she let herself slip in an important conversation with her sister. She figured getting out of the house would help, plus Meulin could probably help. She was good with stuff like that, it was the only way she could maintain the relationship she had with Kurloz. She mentally noted to ask her later, and began getting ready to go.

 

\--------

 

12 chicken fingers, some outfit contemplation, and desperate searching for her roller blades later, Roxy was ready to go. Before leaving, she tried to check on Rose again, but got no response. She left a note and some money for pizza, and took off. 

 

By the time she got there, the other four girls were already waiting. Meulin smiled brightly and waved her over, while the others were talking (probably another nonsensical debate). Roxy smiled back, and waved the hand not holding her bag back at her. 

 

“Aboat time, gill. You ready to take floor, maybe pick up some studs?” Meenah jokingly asked her, eyebrows going all the way above her goggles/glasses. 

 

“I’d prefer someone with tide-ies” Roxy joked back, finally giving into the fish puns.

 

“Yas gill, that's the spirit.” Meenah grinned, all her teeth gleaming almost like a predator.

 

“Meenah, please never say ‘Yas gill’ again.” Aranea deadpanned, though she was amused by Meenah nonetheless. Aranea obviously had a thing for Meenah, and Roxy hoped it worked out.

 

“Aw, c'mon, let the gill have some fun.” Meulin interjected, grinning. Meulin also had a thing for puns, so its no surprise she joined in the fun. Aranea simply sighed, though she was grinning all the same.

 

While her online friends may be the ones that she pours her heart out to, and Karkat is a friend who is surprisingly understanding, these four were the friends she would have a good time with. They walked inside, and continued joking around with each other while getting ready to skate. Meenah’s mom was a celebrity or something, so they got free admission. The pro to having rich friends.

 

They went ahead and skated for a while, talking all the while. Eventually, Meenah and Aranea headed to the snack bar, and Roxy took this chance to talk to Meulin.

 

“Hey, Meulin, could I ask you about something?” Roxy asked, almost shyly. 

 

Meulin looked up from her phone, and bashfully laughed. “Sure, whats up?”

 

“Me and my sister got in a big fight. She has some problems with her mental health and alcohol, but refuses to seek help or even talk to me. It’s been a full month since she’s started skipping school almost daily, and I’m not sure what to do.” Roxy was almost choked up by the end, it was hard to talk about this stuff.

 

“Oh, Roxy.” Meulin brought Roxy into a hug, to help comfort her. After breaking apart, Meulin began. “It’s not going to be easy to get your sister to agree to see a psychologist or therapist, but purr now apologize and try to treat her normally. The worst thing you can do is make it obvious that something is wrong with her, as she is probably aware and already feels bad about it. Also-” As Meulin was talking, while Roxy nodded along, a sudden bang rang out from the entrance.

 

Both Meulin and Roxy took on defensive positions as chaos rang out. From the entrance, a hulking figure approached with wisps of purple energy surrounding him.

 

Wait, wasn’t that Kurloz? Glancing over, Roxy saw the same recognition on Meulin’s face. Whatever was happening was really, really bad. Kurloz was intimidating at best, and now he looked downright terrifying.

 

“Meulin, why did you leave me?!” he screamed out, while Meulin simply cringed. 

 

“You know why, Kurloz. You would get stupidly violent from me hanging out with my friends, and I was the one who did all the work in maintaining our relationship. It doesn’t matter how much you apologize, we’re through!” Meulin screamed back, practically crying. God, it looks like Roxy wasn’t the only one who had an emotionally taxing afternoon.

 

Kurloz got angrier, stalking closer. Roxy backed up, but Meulin stood her ground. “You betrayed me! For years, we were happy, but then you changed! I still put up with it, but I shouldn’t of! How could you do this to me!” He was crying in the midst of his screams, but Meulin simply glared back at him.

 

“I understood that you had problems, why did you think I stayed with you after you got violent?! It was just too much though, I wasn’t happy anymore. Why don’t you understand?!” Meulin was practically sobbing, she was a very empathetic girl and it probably hurt her just as much to break it off. 

 

Everyone was hiding far away, in the very back corner. The entrance was still smoking, and multiple bodies were strewn about. God, he could’ve killed people because of a bad break-up. Aranea was helping Meenah stand in the back, god, she must’ve gotten hurt in the explosion. There was a faint trickle of blood from Meenah’s skull, and Roxy was pissed. If she wasn’t scared out of her mind, she would’ve kicked his sorry ass by now.

 

“I understand plenty well! I understand that you led me on, and never actually cared about me!” He screamed, and picked her up by the front of her shirt.

 

“Meulin!” Roxy screamed, stepping forward a bit. However, the glowing purple eyes of Kurloz stopped her from reaching for Meulin.

 

“You never realized how much I cared about you! How much it hurt whenever we argued, how much pain I felt when you got injured from wrestling practice! You don’t even know how much it hurt me to break up with you!” Meulin shouted in between sobs, heaving out breaths.

 

Kurloz bellowed out, “Then why did you do it?!” His eyes began to glow red at the edges.

 

“Because I had no choice if I actually wanted to be happy!” Meulin shouted in his face, though it was almost impossible to make out from how much she was hyperventilating. 

 

“So i wasn’t good enough, huh? I’ll show you good enough!” Kurloz shouted back, and the purple energy around him began to change, somehow. Roxy immediately knew something was about to happen, something bad. Throwing caution the wind, she ran over to them called out “Meulin!”

 

“Roxy, don’t-” Meulin tried to say, but Roxy was already reaching out to grab ahold of her. Kurloz sucked in a giant breath, Meulin was staring in fear, her friends were screaming out for her, and Roxy hugged the backside of Meulin while a 4-eyed black cat appeared in the corner of her vision.

 

Kurloz let out a scream, infused with whatever energy that was, as Roxy dragged Meulin out of his grip. And then Roxy made the two of them disappear. 

As Kurloz’s scream continued, Roxy ran as far as she could while holding Meulin, ignoring the blessing that was invisibility and more concerned for her friend. Meulin’s ears were bleeding, and she was unconscious, but she was alive. If Roxy hadn’t stepped in then, she might not be. Everyone in the back were covering their ears, but Aranea and Meenah were crying all the while.

 

Kurloz eventually stopped, and didn’t realize Meulin had only been there for a few seconds of the 5-minute long screaming session. Seeing that both she and Roxy were gone, he let out a scream of frustration and looked out in the crowd to find them. However, he didn’t manage to find them, because they were invisible for… some reason. Before he could go on a rampage, he was kicked in the balls by a short figure.

 

“Jesus goddamn Christ, I could feel your toxicity from the other side of the city.” one of the local heroes, Blood Bond, said. Kurloz practically crumbled, glaring up at him. Everyone simply stared, Roxy included. Kurloz got back up, facing down at Blood Bond. However, Blood Bond simply stared back, preparing his blood sickles. He often used real weapons, but he could only cut toxic bonds with his blood weapons, which was really cool. Roxy got back up, and quickly ran over near Meenah while holding Meulin. She put Meulin down, and sorta… willed herself to stop being invisible. Meenah sorta freaked upon seeing her, hugging her. Aranea immediately went to Meulin, trying to shake her awake, but it was for naught. 

 

Blood Bond stared at her for a good 4 seconds, before staring back at Kurloz. All of a sudden, a dark red string appeared between Kurloz and Meulin, and the next second it was cut in half. The next instant, Kurloz crumpled, and his aura radiating evil had gone away. Blood Bond restrained him, and called in the paramedics and police waiting outside. Sending a quick glance back Roxy’s way (he must’ve seen her appear from thin air, great), he made his way outside. The paramedics picked up both of her injured friends, and she practically collapsed in relief told that they’d live. 

 

The paramedics also took her to get a check up (at some point she hurt her leg, but it was probably from running around carrying a 150 lb girl). She texted Rose to let her know she would be home early, and when asked why, told her the skating place was attacked by a villain. God, she’d have to explain this to mom too. Plus, how the hell did she turn invisible.

 

And why the hell was there a four-eyed cat approaching her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading you're all so fucking valid
> 
> Also sorry if the formatting is a bit fucked up lmao im doing my best
> 
> Check out the official tumblr for this AU~ https://steppin-up.tumblr.com/


	2. A mutant cat and a bisexual talk about magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy goes home with this cat(?) to try and understand things. Featuring Roxy being a dumbass, one (1) magical transformation, and teenagers actually using their brains for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is late I've had this done for like. a fucking week lmao but i havent had time to format it and post it bc of work

Roxy shut her room’s door behind her and set her bag on her bed. She unzipped it, allowing the cat like thing to jump out and sit on her bed. “I want to talk. Now.” Roxy said, curtly. She was a no-nonsense type of girl, despite her happy attitude. Which wasn’t really surprised when she thought about it. Strange things had never bothered her how she thought they should’ve.

 

Earlier that day, the sprite had approached her and started talking to her once no one else was around. It began with, “Hi there! Congratulations, you have magic powers!” and Roxy just sorta stared down at it for a minute before officially panicking. A four eyed black cat walked up to her out of nowhere, called itself a sprite, and said she had magic. Thats uh. Something right there.

 

The cat-sprite thing, either oblivious to Roxy’s panic or ignoring it, continued. “Isn’t it exciting?! Your powers can be used for anything just and fair, which makes it perfect for hero work if you’d like. Otherwise, you can use them for your job or schoolwork or whatever you want, really!” Somehow it almost sounded cheerful about the whole thing despite being a weird cat.

 

Roxy had no idea what to even say to all that. She was out on the street on a Tuesday night and she apparently awakened magic powers just to save her friend from a shitty ex. Jesus Christ with a chainsaw that's weird. Plus like, being a magical hero would be super cool and all, but also she’s a 17 year old high schooler that goes to nationwide dance competitions. How would she even be able to make it work? Though, many heroes do mention their occupations and stuff while in interviews, hell Turntech creates music, dance routines, and a comic all on top of his hero work. 

 

God, she was getting really into this, wasn’t she? She was already trying to rationalize how she could balance life with hero work, when she can’t do anything in moderation. That’s a lane of self doubt she’ll have to go down later though, because the Roxy of right now thinks being a magical hero could be pretty sweet.

 

Having no better ideas, Roxy put the mutant cat inside her bag and headed home. She didn’t want any strangers (or Rose) to see it. The minute she walked in the door she was engulfed in a hug by Rose.

 

“Don’t scare me like that again.” Rose murmured, clutching on to her tightly. Roxy smiled slightly, even if they did fight they were still sisters.

 

“I’ll try.” Roxy whispered back. Rose pulled away, and looked at Roxy with a look in here eyes that Roxy couldn’t quite place- shock, fear, maybe awe?- before running back upstairs to her room. Roxy was worried about Rose, she always was. That look she gave Roxy, though, she just couldn’t place what could cause a reaction like that. She would have to try to communicate better with Rose to try and help her out, but for now she would give Rose space. It’s probably been a long day for her, after the fight and subsequent incident in which Roxy’s life was endangered.

 

After all that, Roxy walked upstairs to her room, which is where we are now. Roxy didn’t break eye contact with the cat, surprising considering she only had half the eyes that it did. Nevertheless, the cat was unfazed, and began to speak.

 

“Well, alright Roxy! What do you want to talk about?” the cat said, blinking it’s four eyes at her. It radiated contentedness, which wasn’t surprising since cats didn’t really have many problems compared to people.

 

“Well, uh, how exactly how did I get any powers?” Roxy asked. God, she was terrible at this whole questioning thing.

 

“Oh, you’ve always had them! They’ve just been asleep your whole life, and finally woke up when you really needed them.” the cat continued staring at her, wagging its tail slightly. God, this was so fucking weird. Though, that did make sense, considering that without her powers Meulin could’ve been fatally injured back there.

 

“Okay, then uh…. What is your name anyways?” Roxy asked. She was steadily getting worse at questioning the mutant cat, but also calling mutant cat variations of “cat” and “mutant cat” was getting old.

 

“Oh, I don’t have one!” the cat replied, seemingly not bothered by that at all. “I’m just a sprite after all- a simple manifestation of your powers here to help guide you!”

 

“Well, now I’ve gotta give you a name. I can’t just call you mutant cat or sprite all day, that's too impersonal.” Roxy said in return, already thinking about what to name her new sprite, or her new pet cat, or whatever. “How about…. Mutie. Yknow, like, mutant-cutie.” Roxy eventually decided. Man, she was creative!

 

“Sure, if that's what you want, Roxy!” Mutie replied, licking its paw. Despite being a sprite comprised of pure magical energy, it sure acted like a real cat. Speaking of which…

 

“Can anyone else like, see you?” Roxy asked because she needed to know how crazy she would look in public talking to Mutie. 

 

“Other magic users can see me unless you want me to turn invisible! Normal people can’t see me no matter what, though.” Mutie said. Okay, so, maybe she could make some friends with magic by parading Mutie around and they could tell her what to do. Assuming that the other ones are nice. God, other magicals better not be like the Madoka Magica gals and try to kill her. That'd be bad.

 

“Okay uh, what else…. Oh! Do you know who else has magic powers?” Roxy asked. It’d be easier to approach someone rather than wait for someone to approach her. Probably.

 

“Not really… the big mean guy had powers, obviously, but he was corrupted. There was also the cape guy, but between those two they drowned out the powers of anyone else in there. Besides, it’s not my place to reveal people are magicals if they don’t reveal it themselves.

 

“Corrupted?” Roxy asked. She knew that Kurloz had powers, -how else had he managed to hurt Meulin with a scream alone?- but she didn’t really think about it more than that. She didn’t even think powers could be corrupted or anything like that.

 

“Ah, if you use your powers for evil or are filled with enough negativity, your powers will change. Your sprite takes the brunt of the change and becomes tainted with darkness until it’s either cleansed by another magical or the person changes what started the corruption in the first place. If the corruption isn't fixed in time, the sprite will die. When the sprite dies, it cuts the link between the magical and their powers, and the powers can’t ever be used again.” Mutie finally ends the exposition, but it’s still important. Roxy wasn’t too afraid of being bad enough to taint Mutie, but it was still a bit intimidating to know she’d have to try and not be too negative if she wanted to keep her powers. At least, she thinks that's what that meant? She’ll have to ask more about it later. 

 

“Alright. And then, I guess I’m a magical? What, exactly, does that entail?” Roxy asked her (probably) final question.

 

“Well, you have magic powers to start! Your powers have to do with the lack of clarity and non-reality. In fact, you can steal anything under the domain of void, or steal using void. You became invisible by stealing others clarity, and could theoretically steal the unrealness of something among other things! Also, like all other magicals, you can transform in order to hide your identity while doing your magic, and enhance your physique!” Mutie replied, obviously enraptured by this topic. God, that was a lot of exposition. But, Roxy figured she got it.

 

“So I’m essentially, like, a magical girl?”

 

“I mean, if that's how you want to think of it, then sure!”

“Does that mean I can like, fight crime using these powers?” Roxy was getting excited. Being a magical hero was one of those things everyone thought would be pretty cool, and now she could do that!

 

“Yeah, that's what most magicals are expected to do. Of course, you don’t have to. Some people use their powers for mundane things like jobs or school-”

 

“Oh my god this is so exciting!” Roxy picked Mutie up and twirled around, ecstatic. “Okay, so, how do I transform? And what will I look like? Oh god, what will my magical name even be?” Roxy asked Mutie excitedly, who she was still holding, with anticipation.

 

“Just focus on your core, and it’ll come naturally to you. You’ll take on whatever form your heart and mind dictate, and can change it as you wish. And you can call yourself whatever you want, Roxy!” Mutie replied, somehow unbothered by being manhandled like this. 

 

“Okay, okay, uh, is it safe to transform here? I won’t hurt anyone, will I?” Roxy asked, finally putting Mutie down.

 

“It should be fine, you’ll just be intangible for a few minutes. Be careful though, you let out a pretty big light when you transform.” Mutie replied, still staring up at her. Roxy didn’t think the whole "four eyes" thing would ever stop being weird, no matter how cute it was. 

 

“I think it’ll be fine. Rose won’t notice, she’s usually holed up in her room or in the living room, she doesn’t ever really come up by my room. I don’t think there's anyone else around to see, either, so let's do this!” Roxy was fucking ready for this shit.

 

“Alright, but be careful, Roxy. It takes a lot of energy and I can tell you’re already tired.” Mutie replied. Roxy was barely paying attention by then, though.

 

“Alright, so, concentrate on my core…” Roxy muttered to herself. Holding her hand at her sides and steadying her posture, she began focusing on what she assumed was her core. She figured her chest because her heart was there and that's, like, the core of your life or whatever? Man, she was really winging this, she almost feels bad that Mutie has to be her guide. She concentrated and tried to imagine energy building, and it sorta just happened.

 

It was almost as though she was floating and sinking at the same time. She felt her old clothes change shape around her, and gloves form on her arms. A pair of boot formed around her socks, which had gone from ankle high to knee high. A mask formed out of nothing and wrapped around her face, while her shirt and skirt fused into a multilayer dress. It felt like she was dissociating, but almost in a good way if that was possible. If you can’t tell, Roxy can’t exactly explain the experience in words. It’s so many feelings and sensations going on at once that words can barely explain how she felt.

 

However, one thing was certain now. The budding energy that was inside of her ever since she turned invisible without transforming had suddenly flared up, and she felt like she was in better shape than she’d ever been despite her body shape not changing in the slightest. Saying that she would be more powerful was a bit of an understatement on Mutie’s part. 

 

The 10-second sequence was over, and Roxy immediately ran to her mirror. [She was in](https://78.media.tumblr.com/b481b04d595b0ad3511310964021857d/tumblr_pbunv5veTb1xa1h9fo3_1280.png) a blue sleeveless dress, with slits down both sides tied together with thick black string. She wore it over a grey, multi layer tutu. She also had a small capelet, fingerless gloves that went to her upper arm, dark blue boots, and a mask. All of these were various shades of blue, ranging from a mid-spectrum blue to dark blue. Her hair had changed too- while it had originally been bleached and had pink tips and highlights, it now had blue tips. The weirdest thing though was that she looked fuzzy somehow. Like, you could get the general gist of what she looked like and what was wearing, but you wouldn’t be able to recognize her without the outfit.

 

That explains how nobody has been able to figure out a single magical hero’s identity.

 

As she grinned excitedly over at Mutie, she also remembered she typically went off 5 hours of sleep a day and had exercised more today than she had in weeks, and the whole entire Kurloz thing happened, and Mutie said these transformations took up a lot of energy. 

 

Roxy now understood the true meaning of tiredness.

 

Mutie almost sighed. “I’m glad you’re excited Roxy, but you really shouldn’t transform when your that tired. You can transform back the same way if you wanna sleep.”

 

“Yea, ‘M gonna sleep,” Roxy said, somewhat leaning on her dresser. The transformation back was just as weird, but now it felt like power was draining out of her rather than being absorbed. Almost immediately after getting back into her clothes from earlier, Roxy jumped onto her bed and went out like a light. Mutie curled up next to her.

 

After it’s charge had nearly died today before her power had awakened, Mutie wasn’t gonna leave her side until it was assured of her safety.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, on the nationwide hero discord chat...

 

turntechGodhead [TG], tentacleTherapist [TT], ectoBiologist [EB], timaeusTestified [TT],  and  grimAuxillatrix [GA] are online 

 

TG: so yall hear about what happened in new york today

TT: Of course we did, CG already posted a memo about it. Plus, I live in New York.

TG: it was just a question smh

TG: but anyways

TG: yknow how CG said some random girl used powers there

TG: someone caught it on video

TG: link

GA: Excuse My Language But What In The Actual Hell

TT: Yeah, why didn’t she transform before using them? 

TT: If it wasn’t for the bad camera angle you could see her whole entire face. 

EB: wait, I think I recognize her! 

EB: a girl at the last dance competition I went to also had that same ombre hair thing going on. 

TG: wait really

TG: wait

TG: no way

TG: dazz

TT: yes?

TG: dms. Now,

turntechGodhead [TG] is now offline!

tentacleTherapist [TT] is now offline!

EB: what was that about? 

GA: I Am Not Sure But I Am Extremely Worried

TT: … 

 

* * *

 

Karkat Vantas wasn’t having a very good night. 

 

Sneaking back in through his window, cause like fuck he was gonna let his foster family know he was out at night being a hero, he put his bag down on his bed and flopped down next to it. His sprite (crabdad, affectionately nicknamed by the discord server) crawled over and laid down on his stomach. Normally, Karkat would pull a bigger fuss about that kinda thing, but also today was pretty fucking terrible, so he didn’t have the energy to give a shit right now.

 

“Why is Karkat having a bad day?” the readers ask. Well, Karkat mockingly answers, existence is overrated and sentience is about the worst thing that ever happened to him. Yes, even more so than being put in the foster system. 

 

More specifically, he had to cut a bond today. He avoided doing it as much as possible because it could drastically change a person- for both good and bad. Plus, he often got to feel the toxicity first-hand thanks to his powers. Today though, he had to. The corruption had spread from The Subjuggulator (as he was now called by the police), and the small girl who was probably his ex could’ve gotten her powers corrupted as well if their bond hadn’t been severed. As is, Karkat could tell that her sprite (some sort of cat?) was already weakening from the hit she took. The sense of wrongness wouldn’t ever leave though.

 

Pettier than that, he made less money than usual, which sucked ass. He got virtually no money from his foster parents, and he needed to get enough money to get emancipated somehow. Everyone he saves are fucking penny pinchers, Jesus.

 

The worst of all though, was that Roxy was there. “Writing class buddy” Roxy. “Sister of Rose” Roxy. And somehow, Roxy had saved the other girl from certain death at the hands of possibly the strongest corrupted magical Karkat had ever seen. Because she had powers.

 

Roxy-fucking-Lalonde had powers, and Karkat may be royally fucked.

 

He’s been hiding the fact he’s a hero for over 3 years now (yes, he started at 11, kids will do anything to get out of the house and his foster parents are anything but strict). He got government connections, mastered concealment spells, and knows how to cover injuries with makeup better than he understands math. 

 

Roxy was a friend, though. A friend that happened to have void powers, of course, which is probably the second best power to reveal his secret identity, but still a friend. If she asks, he knows she could see past any lies or deflections. And if they meet as heroes, who knows how well she might recognize him. 

 

Of course, it may be an overreaction. Roxy is smart, but also an airhead. Her best skills are writing and hacking, and he doesn’t leave any trace of his hero life in his stories. He does have Turntech’s nationwide hero discord, but Roxy doesn’t have discord, so he should be fine on that front. Plus, Roxy wouldn’t intentionally tell if she did manage to find out.

 

There was something else he was worried about, though. At the skating rink, while she was checking on her friends, Karkat had looked at her out of shock from her using powers. But also, he saw all her bond links. The pink-ish purple thread between her and rose, which typically radiated a golden light, had been diminishing as the past month or so had gone by. And today, it had been tainted with magical corruption.

 

Whatever was going on, it probably wasn’t good. He knew Roxy wouldn’t get corrupted that early on into having her powers, because knowing how powers work, they probably only awoke today. 

 

But, that leaves Rose as the source of the taint. But as far as he knew, Rose never had powers.

 

He was going to have to get to the bottom of this, because he isn’t gonna let his friends get corrupted. He may be an asshole orphan who is trying to be a hero at age fourteen, but he won’t let his friends go so far that they get swallowed by darkness. Mark his fucking words.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank u so much for reading this bullshit. i'm sorry if there are any formatting or spelling mistakes im tired
> 
> Tumblr: https://steppin-up.tumblr.com/ (I'll update it soon with more hero bios OwO)
> 
> Anyways ya'll are valid have a great day


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